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Martin to have season-ending surgery

Nationals right-hander J.D. Martin announced on Saturday morning that he will have season-ending surgery to repair a bulging disc in his lower back. The surgery will take place Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Martin has had lower back problems dating back to his days in the Indians organization, but the injury grew worse this year. Earlier this season, Martin missed two starts for Triple-A Syracuse because of back issues.

Then on June 24, Martin started against the Brewers and didn’t have anything in the tank, even though he allowed just one run in 2 1/3 innings. In fact, the team believed Martin was injured in the bottom of the second inning.

With the count 1-1 on Jonathan Lucroy, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman, pitching coach Steve McCatty and head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz went to the mound to check on Martin. Catcher Ivan Rodriguez was the first to notice something was wrong with Martin. Martin said he was OK and remained in the game, but he would later leave after one out in the third, with runners on first and second.

The team announced after the game that Martin was being placed on the 15-day disabled list because of his lower back problem. Martin thought he would be back on the mound by now, but he was placed on the 60-day disabled list Thursday.

“It was a little bit worse than we thought, so it’s going to require a little surgery,” Martin said via phone. “It’s just a cleanup. It’s a pretty easy procedure, the doctor said. After rehab, I’ll be ready to be strong and for next Spring Training.”

Martin made nine big-leagues starts this season and was 1-5 with a 4.13 ERA for Washington.

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3 Comments

Aww man, this blows for martin. He had such a great season, having 7 of his nine starts being quality ones. I saw him duel peavy in june and he was fantastic. I know next yrs gonna be tough to break into the rotation see as how there are like 15 pitchers competing for 5 spots, but hopefully Martin can get a relief role at the very least. He deserves it!!

Aww man, this blows for martin. He had such a great season, having 7 of his nine starts being quality ones. I saw him duel peavy in june and he was fantastic. I know next yrs gonna be tough to break into the rotation see as how there are like 15 pitchers competing for 5 spots, but hopefully Martin can get a relief role at the very least. He deserves it!!

Man this blows. Martin pitched 7 quality starts out of his 9 starts and he has proved that he deserves a spot on this team (more so than Stammen or Lannan). I saw him pitch against Peavy and he was incredible. Hopefully next yr he can compete for a spot in the rotation, or at least one in the bullpen.

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